What is Street Photography? - and what it isn't
(Let me warn the reader. This is what I think and how I shoot. You may not agree. OK. Do it any way you like.)
The first link in a web search was, of course, to the entry in Wikipedia which is correct in a general way but also so non-specific as to give not much help to any photographer itching to get into the field. Street photography is a genre of photography that features subjects in candid situations within public places and does not necessitate the presence of a street or even the urban environment. 'Street' simply refers to a place where human activity can be seen, a place to observe and capture social interaction. The subject can even be absent of any people and can be that of object or environment where an object projects a human character or an environment is decidedly human. Framing and timing are key aspects of the craft, with the aim of creating images at a decisive or poignant moment. Alternatively, the street photographer may seek a more prosaic depiction of the scene, as a form of social documentary. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Street_photography There is a story about a man in a hot-air balloon who is blown off-course and lands in a field by the side of the road. He waves down a car and asks the driver where he is. The driver says, 'Well, of course, you're in the basket of a collapsed hot-air balloon by the side of the road.” The balloonist says you must be a photography teacher.” and the driver says, “yes, how did you know?” Well, the balloonist responses, “what you told me was absolutely correct but totally useless.” So I looked further with a bit more success. In a website run by the London Festival of Photography, an organization that previously sponsored a yearly street photography: Street photography captures people and places within the public domain. More specifically street photography is defined by LFPH as “un-posed, un-staged photography which captures, explores or questions contemporary society and the relationships between individuals and their surroundings.” http://www.lfph.org/what-is-street-photography
But finally, two quotes that actually strike closer to the heart of the issue. Effective street photography is about telling a story in a single frame, not simply recording what was there at a particular time and in a specific place. http://photography24seven.com/what-is-street-photography/
I didn't agree totally with this because of the use of 'story', implying there must be a narrative with a beginning and an end, so on I went. Finally, I came across this quote from Ming Thein. Street photography doesn’t always have to have a purpose, but each image must aim to say something. http://blog.mingthein.com/2012/11/02/what-is-street-photography/ Ming Thein right to the point. No rules, except that the image must say something. Bingo that's it. No rules, no standard, no 'best lens', no allowed procedures, just what the end result must be. The aim for any photographer is to create images that impact people with the shared human emotions and sensibilities.
So rather than saying what, in my opinion, is real street photography, it is much easier to say what I think is not.
This is my mantra, originally written by a retired street photographer friend from Scotland and slightly edited. Street shooting is maybe the hardest niche of all in photography both to explain and to do. The photographer haunts his chosen environment where, perhaps, nothing is happening - people may be just quietly going about their business - and yet he/she to select tiny moments when an image can be snatched which is more than the sum of its parts - where some fleeting coincidence of expression, gesture, positioning, and movement come together to create an instant which holds some undefinable meaning.
The meaning or the idea can be big or little, it can be a statement about major issues or just a wordless comment on what the photographer sees but, in my mind, there has to be something beyond just a capture or the photo just empty. The meaning can be obscure and require some effort but it must mean something and the photographer must know it. The meaning must be enclosed in the photo and not an add on because the title is informative. A great picture reaches past the topmost layer of intellectual meaning and touches feelings and emotions. Henri Cartier Bresson said "To take a photograph is to align the head, the eye and the heart.” What he meant and how I think, was that a photo must incorporate a meaning (the head), to do that it must present the vital elements for the viewer to understand in a coherent way (the eye) and the viewer must be struck by the photo and respond to it (the heart.) And that's my goal, to strike to the heart. _____________________________________________________________________________________ If you'd like to learn composition and editing in a one-on-one environment online read about One to One Workshops on composition and editing
Comments
" (what I call homeless porn. This is the most obvious, cheap and repellent cliché in street photography and viewers should not be fooled by the photographer's tales of giving money or food in return. Unless there is more to it than a picture of poverty, it is exploitative."
It seems like all street photography could be exploitative if you don't get permission from the subject in advance.
Jose(non-registered)
Thanks for this post Lew, very helpful.
I agree with you that there are numerous possible interpretations of what's street photography, the name it self tells much about it. Streets are full of activity, people, colors, cars, buildings, dogs, everything possible. Some things catches the eye of some, other things the eye of other people, and most the eye of nobody. Is it possible to apply general rules of photography on street photography? Yes. Is it mandatory? Depends on each one. Sometimes chaos puts the viewer easier inside the photographed place than a correct, sane shot. Is there always a story behind the photo? Well, depends mostly on the viewer, so usually there is more than one story (or even none). I think the most important is to shoot what has caught our attention, trying of course to make use of our photographic knowledge. Is it going to catch the attention of others the same way as it did to us? Most certainly not. In case they do in a certain extent, than one can eventually become a successful photographer, otherwise he can always keep having fun shooting ☺
Designer(non-registered)
It is possible that differing levels of skill in photographers coupled with each viewer's own prejudices leave the "correct" or "preferred" interpretation of an image to chance, and not a very sure one.
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